TOKYO (AP) -- An influential Japanese political lobby says it will do its utmost to capitalize on Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's election victory to push for a constitutional revision for a more active military role. Tadae Takubo, chairman of Nippon Kaigi, said Wednesday that the war-renouncing constitution that makes Japan's defense ``defective'' needs to be corrected. Abe's election gains in the upper house over the weekend mean his party can now cobble together the crucial two-thirds majority in

International July 13, 2016

NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) -- The U.S. military in Africa said Wednesday it has sent 40 additional soldiers to South Sudan's capital, Juba, to help secure American personnel and facilities in the war-torn city, while South Sudanese trying to flee the country by road reported attacks, killings and robberies by armed men.Amid a tense cease-fire which has held since Monday night, the U.S. troops deployed at the request of the State Department, said Africom spokeswoman Cpt. Jennifer Dyrcz.In five days of f

International July 13, 2016

BERLIN, (AP) -- German prosecutors said Thursday they had arrested an alleged Algerian Islamic State group militant who had had contact with the late ringleader of the November Paris attacks, Abdelhamid Abaaoud.The suspect, identified only as 20-year-old Bilal C., is accused of having informed Abaaoud of ways to smuggle jihadists into Western Europe along the Balkans route then used by a mass influx of migrants.  He had also been in touch with Moroccan jihadist Ayoub El Khazzani, who opened fire

International July 7, 2016

LONDON, (AFP) -- Five men died Thursday in an accident at a recycling centre near Birmingham, central England and a sixth man has been taken to hospital with serious leg injuries, police said."Police can confirm that five men have died after an industrial accident at a recycling site at Nechells this morning," the police statement said, referring to a suburb of the city."Officers were called... to reports that a wall had collapsed. Emergency services attended but the men could not be saved and t

International July 7, 2016

Thousands of unionized workers of GM Korea Co., the South Korean unit of U.S. automaker General Motors Co., voted in favor of a strike, an official said Thursday, a move that may set the stage for a walkout.The official said 71 percent of more than 13,600 unionized workers voted for the strike, though they could not immediately stop working.By law, a union cannot go on strike during mediation by the state-run National Labor Relations Commission which usually lasts 10 days.The company official sa

Social Affairs July 7, 2016

WASHINGTON (AP) --  Fewer Americans sought unemployment benefits last week, a sign that U.S. workers still have job security despite recent tremors in the global economy.The Labor Department said Thursday that weekly applications fell 16,000 to a seasonally adjusted 254,000. The 4-week average, which is less volatile, dipped slightly to 264,750.Unemployment claims are a proxy for layoffs. The 70-week streak of claims staying below 300,000 is the longest since 1973. It's evidence that employers v

International July 7, 2016

The national Olympic body has scheduled an emergency meeting for Friday to discuss the status of banned swimmer Park Tae-hwan.The Korean Olympic Committee (KOC) said Thursday the agenda at its board of directors meeting will include Park's eligibility for this year's Rio de Janeiro Summer Games. A KOC rule bars athletes from competing for the country for three years after the end of a doping suspension. And Park, whose international doping ban ended in March this year, was kept off the provision

Sports July 7, 2016

One in three South Koreans hope to stay at state-run nursing facilities should their health become impaired in their postretirement years, instead of relying on and living with family members, a study showed Friday.　The statistics indicate a change in the Korean tradition of grown children financially and physically supporting their elderly parents, researchers said.　The study by the Korea Institute for Health and Social Affairs surveyed some 1,000 Koreans aged 20-64 last year. Among the partici

Social Affairs June 3, 2016

KIEV, (AFP) -- Two pro-Russian rebels were killed and another injured in fresh clashes with government forces in the country's war-torn east as simmering violence showed little sign of abating, separatist authorities said on Thursday.The new casualties came the day after Ukraine scored a major diplomatic  victory by securing the return of Ukrainian pilot Nadiya Savchenko as part of a  prisoner swap with the Kremlin.Senior rebel commander Eduard Basurin said Ukrainian forces attacked rebel positi

International May 26, 2016

North Korea's official news agency is criticizing U.S. President Barack Obama's visit to Hiroshima on Friday.The Korean Central News Agency published a commentary Thursday calling the visit a "childish political calculation'' aimed at hiding Obama's identity as a "nuclear war lunatic" determined to modernize the U.S. nuclear arsenal.The commentary also accused Japan of trying to use the visit to masquerade as a victim and cover up its atrocities during World War II.Obama is to become the first s

North Korea May 26, 2016

The British Embassy in Seoul on Thursday held a dinner gathering to celebrate the 90th birthday of Queen Elizabeth II, an event that it seized on to highlight the evolving partnership between the two nations.The celebratory event brought together some 800 people including South Korea's Culture Minister Kim Jong-deok, Yonhap News Agency CEO Park No-hwang, former Prime Minister Han Seung-soo and Lotte Group Chairman Shin Dong-bin.British Ambassador to Seoul Charles Hay said that Thursday's event w

Foreign Affairs May 26, 2016